Sinai Treasures

Janet Soskice continues the extraordinary story of two 19th century Scottish Presbyterian sisters Agnes Lewis and Margaret Gibson, who in middle-age journeyed deep into the Sinai desert to make the priceless discovery of one of the very earliest copies of the Gospels, subsequently becoming world-class scholars of Syriac and Arabic manuscripts

Following the death of Agnes’s husband Samuel Lewis after three short but happy years of marriage, the grief-stricken Agnes and her sister Margaret Gibson decided to undertake a long-dreamed-of expedition to the Sinai Desert in Egypt.

They wanted to see for themselves the Mountain of the Law, and the valley floor where the Israelites had met Moses bearing the Ten Commandments. They also wanted to see, if possible, the monastic library of St Catherine’s and its reputedly marvellous collection of manuscripts. Agnes had found in her scholarly husband not only an ideally suited partner, but a mentor for her apprenticeship in antiquities and the care of manuscripts. Now this training would begin to bear fruit.

This article is an extract from the September edition of Reform.

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